Infant strollers for carrying babies or children are well known. Many stroller products are in the market, including foldable strollers, single seat or twin seat strollers. Whatever the stroller is, it generally includes at least three free rotating wheels for easy moving of the stroller. The user is able to easily push the stroller moving by the wheels. When the baby is in the stroller without an attendant, the stroller is easily moved and is able to endanger the baby, if the stroller rolls down a slope.
A common method for solving the aforementioned problem is to provide a brake device for the wheels. The brake devices of the prior art have to be intentionally operated by the user so as to restrain the wheel from rotation and has to be released from braking before moving the stroller. But, such a brake device is not safe enough to preclude the motion of the stroller if the user does not carefully or timely operate the brake when the stroller is supposed to stop moving. Accordingly, the stroller is able to move unintentionally and cause harm to the baby or the child staying therein.
To overcome the defects of the aforesaid brake device, a safety brake for a stroller is disclosed by U.S. Pat. No. 5,713,585. The safety brake will automatically preclude the motion of the stroller by restricting rotation of the wheels when the attendant or user leaves the stroller. The safety brake includes a brake handle movably mounted to the push handle of the stroller for being grasped during manual propulsion of the stroller, and brake assemblies mechanically coupled to the brake handle for precluding the rotation of the wheels during absence of an attendant gripping the brake handle to preclude unintentional rolling of the stroller.
However, the brake handle in the aforesaid patent has to be grasped upward to release the brake which is of the opposite direction of the push handle when the stroller has to be pushed down for lifting the front wheels during moving the stroller across stairs or obstacles. The opposite manipulation makes the obstacle-crossing more difficult.
Another brake device is disclosed by GB Patent No. 707,159. The brake device is operated by pushing a handle down with causes a locking device to be released. The locking device is positioned on the side of a rear wheel of the stroller.
Another brake device is disclosed by U.S. Pat. No. 5,713,585. The brake device is also operated by pushing a handle down which pushes an arm down which releases the brake. When the handle is released, the brake device automatically returns to a brake position, preventing the stroller from moving. The handle of the stroller is biased in a braking position by a spring mounted between a first arm and a second arm to normally force the second arm to be positioned at an upright position. The braking device includes a specialized sleeve, a pin, a spring and a series of grooves to stop the wheel from rotating.